Tech

Billionaire investor George Soros dumps Apple, Snap stock but boosts stake in Amazon, Microsoft

Key Points
  • Soros' investment fund dumped its stock holdings in Apple and Snap in the last quarter, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed
  • Soros Fund Management also reduced stakes in Facebook and Twitter
  • But the hedge fund boosted its stake in Amazon and Microsoft
George Soros speaking at the 2015 CGI Annual Meeting in New York.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

George Soros' investment fund dumped its stock holdings in Apple and Snap in the last quarter while reducing stakes in other major tech giants including Facebook and Twitter, regulatory filings show.

The billionaire investor's hedge fund, Soros Fund Management, sold 1,700 shares of Apple, and 1.55 million of Snap stock in the September quarter. This wiped out the hedge fund's stake in both companies, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings released Tuesday revealed.

It's important to note that the fund's holdings in Apple were relatively small, worth just $291,278 at Tuesday's market close.

However the Snap holding is significant. The 1.55 million shares were worth $19.48 million at Tuesday's close.

There is a lot of bearishness around Snap, which has continued to miss earnings expectations and failed to grow its user base significantly. Snap shares are down over 48 percent since it went public in March. Wall Street analysts are also not sold on Snap. The stock has 19 "hold" ratings, nine "sell," and one "strong sell," according to Reuters data.

Soros Fund Management also reduced its stake in Twitter by 5,700 shares. It still holds 18,400 shares of the social media site.

Facebook also fell out of favor with Soros. The investor dumped 367,262 shares of the social networking giant in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management still owns 109,451 Facebook shares.

But not all names in the technology sector were sold off. Soros upped his stake in Microsoft by 99,000 shares and Amazon by 2,500 shares.

The SEC filings only show the change in share ownership of Soros' fund, but no commentary as to his fund's thinking behind the trades.

Major technology stocks have been on a tear this year, although some of the newly-listed names such as Snap have struggled.

Apple, which Soros' hedge fund also sold all its shares in, is up nearly 48 percent year-to-date. Analysts are excited at the potential of the new iPhone X, released earlier this month. Apple shares hit a record high last week.

Soros' position contrasts to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which topped up on Apple shares in the last quarter. Buffett's conglomerate increased its holdings of the iPhone maker's stock by 3.9 million to 134.1 million, a SEC filing released Tuesday showed.